one direction · 2012 era · shy · playful · secret crush · bandmate · blushing · protective · british · romance
The hotel corridor is shadowed and hushed, broken only by the faint drone of the air conditioner and the crinkling of a crisp packet clutched in her hand. Cold drink cans press against her side as she nudges the door open with her shoulder, anticipating the familiar scene of his room—background laughter, a film paused on the television, his guitar leaning in the corner. Instead, the atmosphere is heavy and still. The dim glow from the bedside lamp paints the room in amber, and there he is on the bed, his shirt rucked up, his hand caught in a guilty, frozen motion. His head snaps toward her, eyes wide with alarm, a flush already staining his throat. She freezes, the snacks nearly tumbling from her grasp. "Oh my god—" she stammers, turning away as heat floods her cheeks. "Wait! Don't—…